NOAH
by ContessLadyMoonlight
Summary: N.O.A.H. is a powerful organization, who's most trusted and powerful agent is a seventeen year-old boy named Kanda Yuu. He's sent out to look for their main target Allen Walker... What they didn't expect was that they'd fall in love... :Yullen:
1. Chapter 1

Tiky Mikk was running frantically in down the corridor.

The Tiky Mikk who was one of the twelve Marshals under the direct orders of the Millennium Earl.

The Tiky Mikk who could order around all the members of the N.O.A.H organization, even the most trustworthy agent or the most skilled assassin.

The Tiky Mikk who was so devilishly handsome and cared so much about how he looked, even during battle, it became frightening.

The same Tiky Mikk who was now racing in the corridors in such haste that his top hat flew off, falling on the wooden floor.

He finally arrived to an office door, which he flung open.

"Earl! You can't possibly be serious about this!" he screamed.

"But of course I am, Tiky-pet. Would I have issued the order if I was not?" the fat man at the desk answered. He seemed so surreal, with his round and fat belly, heavily decorated top hat and wide unchanging smile. But the anger in his eyes was unmistakable: that man was indeed the cold-hearted killer his reputation claimed him to be.

"But Earl," Tiky replied, lowering his voice from frantic screams to regular speech "Lulubelle is our best tracker and assassin; she is also a Marshal, and she _failed_! How can a mere _boy _succeed where a master assassin was _clueless?"_

"It is not," the Millennium Earl said, his wide smile never reaching his eyes "because Lulubelle failed, that no one can succeed. Even more Tiky-pet, I raised this boy myself and taught him the art of tracking, deceiving and killing. He _will _succeed."

"Fine," Tiky sighted, surrendering, "but at least give him the intelligence Lulubelle gathered!"

"So was my intention." The Earl said calmly, grin plastered over his face. "Here, I was going to give him his instructions." He told Tiky. "Come in!" he called.

A boy, perhaps eighteen or seventeen, stepped in. He wore a hood which casted shadows on most of his face, but his jaw line and dim features clearly stated that he was fairly handsome. He was quite tall, and obviously had long hair since it showed from under his hood. He held an ancient-looking Japanese sword in his left hand.

He slightly bowed his head to Tiky, but keeled fully in front of the Millennium Earl. Satisfaction and superiority showed in the Earl's eyes; he acknowledged the bow by a slight nod, gesturing for him to rise. He took a file from his desk drawer and handed it to him.

"Here is your information file and target data. Your instructions are in there. You have six months to complete your mission… Do not come back empty handed" he added these last words threateningly "You are dismissed." Tiky shivered. He sensed that if the boy came back without his target, his lightest and most merciful punition would be a terrible death.

The boy walked out calmly; file in hand, as if he never heard the Earl's threat.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Prince?" Tiky uttered a moment after the boy's exit.

"Why, of course!" the Earl answered gleefully "he _is_ Kanda Yuu, after all." And the Millennium Earl, supreme leader of the N.O.A.H society, stepped out, leaving Tiky Mikk puzzled in an empty room.

Meanwhile, said Kanda Yuu, sitting down in a coffee house, sipping tea and ignoring the love stuck looks the girls there gave him, his sword next to him to discourage anyone who would think about bothering him, studied the data file his master gave him a while ago.

**Orders: localize, identify, deceive, capture. Minimize casualties.**

He sneered in disgust. They haven't allowed him to kill. He will be bored to death.

**Deadline: six months**

**Communication: non required**

He stared at the photo of his target.

"Tch. One fucking beansprout. This gonna be one hell of a boring mission."

He stuffed the file in his backpack and left, a single sheet of paper remained, with four words printed on it:

**Target name: Allen Walker**


	2. Chapter 2

**IMPORTANT: there is a poll on my profile to decide the side pairing: LaviLena or Lucky. This will have a huge impact on the story, so please! Tell me which one you want me to choose!**

**Hello everybody! Very sorry for not updating earlier, but you guys must know what high school is like (plus, I was, sort of… grounded… rotten luck, I know…) at any rate, at least I'm here now, so, first, I'd like to thank all the people who favorite-d, alerted and reviewed my story: thank you thank you thank you sooooo much! Also, I noticed that I haven't put an author's note or a disclaimer in the prologue, so, here it is!**

**DISCLAIMER: To own or not to own DGM, that is the question. Sadly, I do not own. *weeps***

**Also, all flames will be used to make s'mores and reviews will be used to feed hungry Allen. Have some compassion for Allen: READ, REVIEW AND ENJOY!**

Allen lifted his head and stared at the huge sign above the school's silver doors: "Dark Order High"

He sighted. Now just how many times have he read a similar sign?

There was the Dark Order primary school, were he worked as a chaperone for hyper-active kids, the Dark Order Industries, where he had to work as a janitor –gosh that place's hygiene was horrible! –He shivered, thinking about the Dark Order Military School –now _that _must've been the worst! He put his hand through his hair, feeling its length; he was so glad it grew back again; crew cuts certainly didn't suit him. Where was he? Ah yes –then there was the Dark Order Café where being a waiter would have probably driven him nuts if living with that Master of his hadn't made him insane already, and then he'd been to –all color was drained from his face as he remembered one particular episode of his life, and redefined his classing: Dark Order Military wasn't the worst, The Dark Order _whore house_ was. He shivered, thanking whatever god that made him discover the place's real name before they made him _work_ there. He also thanked whatever devil that gave him enough strength to beat up that idiot Master of his for once, when he discovered that _he_ was the one who asked for its name to be changed.

Allen dismissed all memories of his life with his demented master Cross Marian and breathed deeply. He really hoped that he was at the right address and not just in front of some other decoy… well, at least he was here as a student, not as some sucker who just got hired.

He lifted his small suitcase and climbed the first steps of the threshold… only to be pushed down the stairs by a dashing black and red hurricane.

Allen fell down, his suitcase landing comically on his head. Now that was definitely not what the way he had planned to start the day, but for Allen Walker, things went rarely the way he wanted them to. A young girl, wearing a short blue skirt, her black jacket lined with purple –one of the students, Allen thought, that's the school's uniform- her short hair ruffled by the wind, was at the door, yelling at the redhead who just pushed Allen down the stairs.

"Lavi!" She called "At least apologize!"

The boy –Lavi– turned to face Allen. He promptly back-tracked and went to help his poor victim stand up. He wore the boys' school uniform, with a long purple scarf and a black headband around his bright red hair. His left eye was covered by an eye-patch, while the other one, emerald green and sparkling with fun, eyed Allen curiously.

"I'm really sorry sir!" he apologized, pulling Allen up. Then he noticed Allen's features under his snow-white hair and suddenly let go off him, which made the smaller boy fall backwards again.

"Huh? But you're young!" Lavi exclaimed.

"Yes, I am." Allen said, brushing the dust of his clothes and picking up his suitcase, slightly irritated. "I'm seventeen, to be precise, and also a new student here."

Lavi noticed Allen's pissed tone and scratched the back of his head.

"Um, yeah, well, sorry for making you fall… twice." He grinned "I'm Lavi. Lavi Bookman. I'm the grandson of the librarian here and a student too. I really hope my apologies are accepted." He held out his hand.

Allen shook Lavi's hand and smiled back, apparently undisturbed, even though Lavi's name troubled him greatly. His Master's words came back to his mind…

"_They're like flies," his Master had said. "Gathering over battlefields, recording the history of shadows." He took a long drag of his expansive brand cigarettes. "Every murder in the underground world, every battle, every mystery, they are the ones who record it all. If you ever see one boy, stick to him like glue, because they're definitely recording _your _history too."_

_Well,_ Allen thought, _maybe this is the real place after all…_

"Allen Walker," he said "pleased to meet you."

"Lavi!" the girl yelled, running toward them "What's taking you so lon –Oh, hi," she greeted, noticing Allen.

"Lenalee, this is Allen Walker, a new student here." Lavi explained.

"Pleased to meet you." Allen smiled, shaking Lenalee's hand.

"Allen this is Lenalee Lee, The Headmaster's little sister. He's a little overprotective, and no one here wants you to be sent to the hospital on your first day here, so please, don't temp the demon 'kay?"

Lenalee sighted.

"You're exaggerating, Lavi. The only guy brother ever sand to the hospital was the one who tried to kiss me last year, and he was out of the hospital in two months!" she smiled at Allen "Talking about my brother, we should go and meet him."

"Yeah! You need your room key and the map of the building –believe me, you'll need that one! Let's go!" Lavi pulled both Allen and Lenalee into the building. They were laughing and talking about the teachers or the students, and even if he was part of the conversation, Lavi's mind was elsewhere.

_A boy with snow-white hair and a pentacle above his left eye named Allen Walker… _Lavi thought_, With Yuu Kanda back to Dark Order High, this year might prove quite interesting… _

**AN: Ohoho! The plot is being set! I'm really sorry for the late chapter, and for the short chapters, but these are to set the plot and the story. Long chapters later, cross my heart! I hope you liked this! And, please everybody, tell me which side pairing you like best by voting on my poll. LaviLena or Lucky! See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

A.N: I'm really sorry everyone. I didn't ditch this story, don't worry. I just had... Lets say a hectic life. Something to do with my parents, school, a fucked up social life, and a bunch of mental issues #sight#  
>I'll try to update, really.<br>At any rate, and after a nearly three years' hiatus: Yaay! Third chapter it is now! I'd like to thank you all for the reviews, favorites and story alerts! I hope you'll keep reading this story, and keep telling me what you think about it!  
>So now is Kanda's first appearance at Dark Order High, and where all the problems begin! Read, Enjoy and Review!<br>IMPORTANT: Please people, in the next few chapters, the story will take a decisive turn, and, depending on the side pairing, it might or might not happen. Please answer my poll and tell me: Do you want LaviLena or TikyLavi!

Also, I apologize for the sloppy formatting. This was written and and submitted by phone. Therefore: [this is in italic] and /this is a flashback/

Xoxox

First session was over, it was recess time at Dark Order High, and it should've been a normal first-day-back-to-school morning, if not for the tall boy storming down the corridors, with students and teachers clearing the way for him, deciding it was best for their health and safety not to be within his immediate vicinity.

But despite what every person who saw him that morning thought, Yuu Kanda –because it was none other than him– wasn't mad. Of course not. Even though he had to deal with his [dear] adoptive father Froi Tiedoll during this whole mission; even though he discovered that his self-proclaimed best friend Lavi Bookman was in the same school as him and in most of his classes; even though he found out that he had a roommate instead of a single room in this boarding school, he wasn't [mad.]

God forbid, no, of course Kanda wasn't mad.

He was downright [furious.]

All he wanted now was to finish that assignment to finally go back to Noah's Ark, with its underworld connections, huge training rooms, and multiple victims. Or to the Eden boarding school, as its cover name stated.

[Cover.]

[His] cover.

He groaned, recalling that [small insignificant detail] of his mission. His [cover] was a small official paper from the Eden that read:

"Kanda Yuu is an exceptional student. His results exceeded all of our expectations, and his potential is more than out of the ordinary, nonetheless he does not communicate with any of the other students, does not interfere in the social life. In fact, he does not have a social life. We therefore decided to send him temporarily to another establishment: Dark Order High.  
>This measure was taken in the aim of improving his socializing. We hoped that, confronted to a totally new environment, Kanda Yuu would be forced to make some improvements in his attitude to be accepted.<p>

Sincerely, the Eden teacher council"

Tiedoll had read the note the previous day, when Kanda had first appeared on his doorstep. To his dismal, Kanda remembered that moment perfectly…

/"Goddamn, fucking, messed-up, boring mission!" Kanda muttered on his adoptive father's doorstep "why do I have to go back to the old man's house dammit?!"

But orders were orders, and this was a direct order from the Millennium Earl. He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

"Co-ming!" Tiedoll's voice sounded from some room in the house. A few seconds later, the door opened, and his father flung his arms around him, crying:  
>"Yuu-kun! I missed you so much!"<p>

Kanda had to fight very, very hard to stop himself from taking out mugen and slicing the old man in half.

"When we received news from your school that you were coming back home, we were so happy!" Tiedoll said, hugging him tighter "We missed you so much, Yuu-kun!"

"Back off, old man!" Kanda said, losing his patience and pushing him away.

"Always so energetic" Tiedoll resumed, ignoring his son's mood and pulling him in "Come in! Daysia waited for you the whole day and I'm sure Marie will be thrilled to see you!"

Kanda relaxed a little at the mention of his adoptive brothers. He would never admit it out loud, but they didn't annoy him too much about 0.05% of the time, which, considering we're talking about Yuu Kanda, is quite a feat.

But what [did] annoy him his father's comment when he read the paper from the Eden.

"Oh, Yuu-kun!" he had cried "It's so sad that you don't have any friends! But don't worry! You won't be left out at Dark Order High! It's the school where Lavi goes! You remember him don't you?"

Just about then, Kanda was about to get out of that place and damn the Earl and his mission to hell, when he realized that he would be giving up because of [Lavi]. He couldn't screw up this mission because of a fucking stupid rabbit! He wouldn't allow it! His pride wouldn't allow it! So he decided to bear it and keep going…/

This little adventure therefore leads us to that particular morning at Black Order High, with Kanda storming down the corridors, gritting his teeth because, if his target, Allen Walker, the moyashi as he called him in Japanese, was in most of his classes, goddamn fucking stupid rabbit was in all of those classes too, which made it rather hard to learn more about the moyashi, especially since the "deceive" part in his assignment made it impossible for him to simply kidnap the boy and be over with it, as he had first planned to do.

/"That boy is… special." Tyki had said.  
>"So what?" Kanda shrugged "If he fights back, I'll just knock him out."<br>Tyki eyed him coldly.  
>"You know what? Just follow your orders. Deceive the boy and get him to the rendezvous point. End of the story."

God how he hated this mission.

"Yuu-chan!" a voice called, interrupting his line of thought.

God how he [loathed] this mission!

Kanda tried to ignore the voice, really, he did, but it persisted, and yelled louder. For the first time in his life, he was glad mugen was in his room and not strapped to his back as usual, because he wasn't sure he could have refrained from slicing the idiot behind him, which would defeat the purpose of being "undercover". When his first name was about to be called for the third time, he turned around abruptly, caught Lavi by his shirt's collar and tightened his grip:

"Don't you dare call my name again." He threatened, his voice so low it was barely more than a hiss, "Understand?"

Lavi gulped. Obviously, Kanda was even more pissed than usual, and calling him by his first name twice in as many seconds wasn't such a good move when he was furious. He put on a brave smile, for the sake of his two friends behind him and tried to change the subject:

"You didn't change one bit! But don't mind me, say hi to Lenalee! You haven't seen her in quite a while right?"

Lenalee shot him a glare that said "Thanks for dropping a grenade in my lap!" but she knew that she was virtually the only person around who could deal with him, seen as if he so much as yelled at her, her brother would do something illegal. And bloody.

"Good morning, Kanda!" she smiled "It's good to see you again."

Kanda let go off Lavi –who promptly ran to hide behind Lenalee–, crossed his arms and tch-ed. He couldn't do much now anyway. Doing anything to Lenalee would result in having her demented brother behind him, which would totally ruin his mission.

Lenalee smiled again, relieved, and gestured to a smaller boy behind her.

"Have you met Allen yet?" she asked "He's a new student here! Kanda this is Allen, Allen, this is Kanda!" she introduced.

Now that definitely caught Kanda's attention. He looked at the boy before him.

Allen was holding out a gloved hand, and had a guileless smile on his face. He had snow-white hair and a purple pentacle was drawn above his left eye. Definitely his target. But Kanda now had the chance to see something unclear in the photo: molten silver eyes. He had wide, moonlight-filled eyes, and though he tried to hide it, the sorrow in them was obvious to anyone who knew the same feeling… like Kanda.

He hated Allen on sight.

He ignored the hand, looked at him up and down, and said a single word:

"Moyashi."

Allen understood Japanese; his Master and he had lived there for two years –his Master had also made him pay their living, which was quite a good motive to learn Japanese fast, but that was beside the point–, and he particularly despised the meaning of that word since he was definitely not a beansprout! His answer was immediate:

"I don't think that's a proper way to talk to someone you just met, Bakanda."

Lavi chuckled. He had been right, this would really be interesting!

Kanda was about to say something –probably an insult– when Lavi interrupted them:

"Aww, you already like each other!" He mused "You even gave each other pet names! This is so sweet!"

Lenalee giggled, but neither Allen nor Kanda liked the joke. Their death glares would have probably killed a normal person on the spot, but, needless to say, Lavi was everything but normal.  
>Thankfully for him, the bell rang at that exact moment, rescuing him from a painful death.<p>

"C'mon guys!" he said, pulling them along, "We all have Physics now, and Mr. Wenham won't wait for us to start his lesson!"

"My next class is with Miss Lotto." Lenalee said "I'd better get there too." She turned to look at Allen "I'm sorry we couldn't take you to my brother yet, but don't worry, at four, when the classes will be over, we'll get you your room key!"

She left without even waiting for Allen to answer. But Allen wouldn't have answered anyway; he was dealing with a far more important problem:

"Wait!" he exclaimed, stopping Lavi "You mean our next class is together? As in, the [three] of us, [together]?"

"Well, yeah. Actually, the only class we don't have together is Art because Yu–" a death glare stopped him in mid-sentence. Lavi corrected his statement "Because [a certain third party] doesn't take that class. And I'm taking Ad Literature instead."

Allen and Kanda had the same thought: [This is going to be a very long semester…]

After two hours of lesson's-note-taking, personal-note-passing, Allen and Kanda glaring at each other, daydreaming and any other occupation you do during class when you just don't feel like listening to the teacher droning about universe expansion, the three boys were starving, especially Allen, whose stomach had been growling so much during the last five minutes of the session that students thought that there was a rabid dog outside.

Lavi lead them to the cafeteria, joking and talking with them till they finally reached the mess hall and took turn in the line.

"Jerry can cook anything in minutes!" Lavi whispered to Allen "His food is amazing!"

"Here you go, Lavi dear!" Jerry said when Lavi gave his order "your favorite dish of pasta, with extra cheese!"

"Thanks, Jerry!" Lavi grinned.

"Oh! Kanda! I haven't seen you in years! You've grown so much! Welcome back to Dark Order High! Here is your plate of soba, with the chef's compliments!"  
>Kanda only tch-ed as answer, then it was Allen's turn.<p>

"Oooh, now aren't you a cute new boy! Say, what's your name, honey?" Jerry smiled, leaning over the counter.

"A-Allen, sir." Allen said, a bit confused by the cook's attitude.

"And he's polite too!" Jerry laughed "Calling me Jerry will do just fine, Allen dear! What do want to eat?"

Allen hesitated.

"Can I order anything?"

"Anything at all, honey pie!"

Allen took a deep breath.

"Then I'd like two roasted chickens, eight meat pies, gratin, lasagna, two plates of French fries, three bowls of miso soup, ten onigiri, and for dessert, I'd be taking three bowls of that chocolate mousse and about twenty mitarashi dango, if that's not too much, please."

Jerry looked at him in surprise.

"Well, it's not too much for me sweetheart, but are you sure you'll be able to eat it all?"

Allen smiled.

"Don't worry about that, Jerry, I think I'll do just fine!"

A few minutes later, Allen, holding a mountain of plates, took a seat at Lenalee's table, next to Kanda and Lavi.

"You have a very… special appetite, Allen." Lavi stated, eying Allen's enormous mouthfuls and the even more enormous tray in front of him.

"Let him be Lavi," Lenalee said, although she was just as astonished as her redhead friend "Allen can do whatever he wants."

"But it's surprising," Kanda smirked "how the moyashi eats so much, and yet can't grow beyond freshman size."

"My name is Allen." Said boy retorted between two onigiri (AN: how the hell did he get to onigiri already?! XD) " A-L-L-E-N. Or are you just too stupid to understand it, Bakanda?"

"A beansprout remains a beansprout, especially when said beansprout has old geezers' white hair."

"You –"

"GUYS!"

Now that scream definitely got their attention… and the attention of the rest of the mess hall too. Everybody stared at said scream's source: Lenalee. She had wanted to stop her friends from getting into a fist fight during their first day, but it looked like she yelled [just a bit] too hard…

"Say," she smiled awkwardly, "We should really get going Allen!"

"Uh? Where to?" Allen asked "We still have fifteen minutes before the bell rings." And he still had his twenty mitarashi dango to finish.

"To… um, to –" she shot Lavi a distressed look.

"To get your books!" Lavi said "You and Kanda didn't get them yet right?"

"No," Allen answered "but –"

"No buts!" Lenalee said "Teachers here use books a lot. If you don't have yours, you could get detention!"

"She's right Allen," Lavi added, "first session was presentation, so we didn't need anything, and you were lucky because Mr. Wenham didn't ask us to take our books on the second session, but we have English with Sokaro now, and he [always] asks for books, and gets mad when you don't have yours, and believe me, you [do not] want [that] guy mad at you!"

"O-okay, I guess…" he looked longingly at the ten remaining mitarashi dango. Lenalee pretended not to notice and grabbed him by the hand.

"Let's get going then!" she said hurriedly. Lavi ran after them, and Kanda had no choice but to follow the small group to the library.

Xoxox

The library's doors were huge.

Allen was intimidated just by [looking] at them! He also felt uneasy, as if there was something behind that door he should've been afraid of, something that had to do with that past he so ardently wished to forget.

"Don't space out Allen!" Lavi called, bringing him back to reality "this is important!"

"Listen guys," Lavi told his friends, "be as quiet as possible, if Gramps catches me, I'm dead. Please guys, I'm too young to die! Please, please, please be quiet!"

Lavi opened the door as carefully as possible, and stepped in on the tip of his toes. He checked both sides, scanned the whole place with his vivid green eye, and, when he was satisfied, invited his friends in with a smile, relieved.

"Looks like Gramps isn't here!" he grinned "Let's get your stuff gu–" Lavi was cut in mid-sentence by a powerful hit from a small man who seemingly flew out of nowhere.

"How dare you be so irresponsible!" the small man yelled, standing next to Lavi, who had fallen on the wooden floor.

"Damn it Old Panda this hurts!" Lavi whined.

"Don't. Call. Me. Old. Panda" he said, puncturing each word by a hit.

Finally, he left Lavi on the ground, advanced towards the remaining three teens and said:

"Good morning, Miss Lena, welcome back Kanda, and pleased to finally meet you, Allen Walker, my name is Bookman, the grandfather of that irresponsible idiot over there." He gestured at Lavi, who was already up on his feet and standing beside his grandfather, grinning like a fool and tidying his messy hair… as much as his unruly mop of red could be tidied.

Lenalee greeted him back, Kanda only tch-ed as an answer, but Allen was dumbfounded: [How does he know my name? And, "finally" meet you? What's the meaning of this?]

Bookman smiled at Allen's surprise.

"I am the leader of the Bookman clan, Allen, I know a lot about many people, especially about you."

Allen smiled, building a façade to hide his turmoil. [Looks like Master didn't lie, for once, they do know about me…]

"I'm not that interesting really." He smiled again, "but I'm very pleased to meet you, Master Bookman."

Although he looked passively bored and unconcerned, Kanda registered every single word from this short conversation. The data he had was very limited. Some of it was taken away by the Earl, he knew it. But why? If the Earl wanted the boy so badly, why keep him away from important information? Then it struck him. There must be a reason why the mission stated "deceive" and not "capture", and though he wasn't the type to believe in rumors, Kanda found himself thinking about some sort of mysterious schism from over ten years ago… something he only knew had to do with –

"Oi, Gramps, stop scaring the hell out of Allen and give us the books." Lavi said grinning, and interrupting Kanda's train of thought "The bell is gonna ring in five minutes ya know." The comment earned Lavi a smack on the back of his head.

"Show some more respect you elders, Lavi!" Bookman scolded, "But you are right. Here are your books Allen Walker" he said, handing Allen a pile of books from one of the shelves, then, handing a similar one to Kanda "And yours, Kanda."

"Thank you, sir." Allen said. He wanted to ask something, but the bell rang at that exact moment, urging the three boys to leave the library and run to class before Sokaro gets there to skin them alive, while Lenalee ran the opposite way to her own classroom.

Bookman watched them leave with the same even and unconcerned expression he had learnt to wear ever since he became a Bookman, ever since he became a watcher and not an actor. But for once, he indulged into a comment, while a feeling showed through his mask of indifference.

[Allen Walker… that boy looks so much like his father, God rest his soul… it's truly a shame to know that he is bound to die.]

And dread was painted all over that man's face.

Allen, Lavi and Kanda made it to the classroom exactly 4.33 seconds before Sokaro, which avoided painful punishment; they got away with death glares only.

Each one of them took a seat and class begun. Sokaro yelled for "his lazy slumps of loser students" to open their books page 16, and as he opened his book on said page, Allen noticed a small paper falling from it. He picked it up, and the six words printed on it made his already pale complexion look ghastly white.  
>More than shaken, he read the words over and over, wishing somehow to have made a mistake, but there was no mistake to be made. The words and their meaning were loud and clear in his mind; after all, they were quite simple:<p>

[Stop running away from your past]

Unknown to him, five rows and three seats away, equally shaken and aghast, Kanda Yuu was reading the exact same words from a similar sheet of paper.

The remaining session passed in a flash.  
>Both Allen and Kanda were absorbed by what they read, accidentally sharing the same feelings: Shame, because the words were true. Pain, because accomplishing what was written was virtually impossible. But most of all fear, because they didn't know the answer to the questions that were torturing them ever since Sokaro's class: [Who knows about my past? And how much do they know?]<p>

Lenalee and Lavi felt their friends' distress, but asked nothing. They sensed that the time was wrong, and also, they had absolutely no idea who to ask –with [tact]– a person you've barely met and one you haven't seen in years about trouble that seemed very personal.

The oppressing silence and boring small talk between the four teenagers could've kept on endlessly, hadn't something quite more important –and whose danger was more immediate– flashed in Allen's mind.

"Tim!" he let out suddenly.

His startled cry stopped the three teens in mid-step. They eyed Allen curiously.

"Tim!" he said again, his voice raising a few octaves higher "Oh my GOD, I totally forgot about him!"

"Um," Lavi intervened "is everything alright, Allen?"

Allen grabbed him swiftly by the shoulders.

"Quick, Lavi, where did you put my suitcase?" he asked frantically.

"In my room. Why? is anything –"

"No time. Explain later. Take me there fast!"

"Okay, but –"

"JUST LEAD THE WAY!"

Everyone was startled. Even Kanda.  
>They had only known Allen for about eight hours, but they knew enough to know that he was too polite to scream at anyone. Well, save for Kanda, but he didn't count. The fact that he was screaming urged Lavi to run and lead and the way for Allen. Lenalee, worried about her friends –and a wee bit curious– followed him. As for Kanda, he found it as part of his mission to understand more about the smaller boy, which included understanding his current cause of distress.<p>

When they reached Lavi's door, they had to wait a bit more for the redhead to find his keys, which, although it took less than five seconds, was enough for Allen to wear his mind off with worry.

When Lavi –finally! – opened the door, a tornado of white dashed into the room. It took a moment for Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda to understand that it was Allen, frantically searching for an unknown object.

Lavi's room wasn't easy to search through, seen as it was littered with books, newspapers, and any random thing that could offer even the slightest amount of information. Allen stormed through all of it frantically, to finally find his suitcase in a corner.

It was open, and most of its contents were pouring on the floor.

Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda –having finally overcome the initial shock of Allen's reaction– followed the smaller boy inside.

"That isn't my fault buddy," Lavi said, gesturing at the suitcase "I didn't touch your things, I swear!"

Allen slumped on the floor, his head resting between his hands.

Lavi and Lenalee sat beside him, worried.

"Allen, what's wrong?" they both asked, "Did you lose something? Do you know why anyone would look through your stuff?"

Allen sighted.

"No one looked through my stuff… Tim got out of the suitcase on his own…" Allen started muttering under his breath: something about an "idiot master who just stuffed Tim there and left him to deal with it"

"Hum… Allen…" Lavi started "I think all of us are a little lost here… Just who-or-what in God's name is Tim?"

Lenalee nodded. She too wanted an answer.

Kanda was still standing at the door, watching and listening closely. This was a perfect occasion to learn more about his target and perhaps get closer to him. The sooner this mission was over, the better.

Allen stared at his three newfound friends and answered:

"He's my golem; well Master's golem, to be precise. His name is Timcampy. And he made me take care of him. If I don't find him, he'll kill me. Simple as that."

Kanda and Lavi's ears perked up at the mention of a "golem". Lenalee was totally clueless, though, and before she could even open her mouth to ask, Lavi did it for her.

"Golem? As in, the AI induced robotic memory bank? As in, the epic wireless and 3d communication robot?"

"Yes."

Lavi didn't need any more than that to grow seemingly hyper, although inside, his Bookman training was resonating inside his mind.

Golems were top-notch technology, first made by Cross Marian. He made the very first and best golem, so defined it even had a personality. He sold the unfinished formula, without the personality or AI feature for millions, and kept the first as his personal companion.

Few people knew about golems. Even fewer owned them. Lavi filed this intriguing information about Allen in a corner of his brain, and proceeded to ask about the "Master" who actually owned the golem.

"Hum…" Lavi started "And who's that Master who will kill our adorable Moyashi for a golem?"

Kanda already knew the answer. It was in his file, written in blood red ink, marked as "BEWARE OF THIS PERSON". He was the Earl's bane; the thorn in his foot. Or so the Millennium Earl said. He was-

"Cross Marian." Allen said in a breath; He just didn't want to think right now. It wasn't just a matter of Master killing him for losing Tim. It was also a matter of Tim having precious info within him. Info Allen couldn't bear losing. And other than that, the flying snitch was actually adorable and endearing.

All in all, Allen just had more than enough reasons not to lose him.

Kanda decided that this had gone far enough. If he missed his chance now, he might not get another one.

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?" he exclaimed, "if that golem what-so-ever is so damn important, then look for him instead of moping, stupid Moyashi!"

No one, absolutely no one, expected Kanda, of all people, to help Allen, of all people; least of all Allen himself.

Lavi chose not to question it and just agreed. He, too, wanted to see the golem. After all, he wasn't a Bookman in training for naught.

He grabbed Allen and pulled him up.  
>"Yuu-chan is right, Allen-chan! Let's get your Timmy before he gets really lost!"<p>

Allen was too surprised over the act that KANDA was helping him to even register the fact that he had been nicknamed Allen-CHAN. He was too happy discovering the meaning of friendship.

Little did he know; after all, Lenalee was the only one helping with no ulterior motives.

And one of the others' ulterior motives was likely to get him killed.

They searched the whole school.  
>Lavi looked into the most probable hiding places, Lenalee asked the staff, and Kanda terrified everyone into telling him if they've seen the golden golem.<p>

They searched everywhere, asked everyone, and even checked the gardens outside.

Allen was starting to lose hope with this.

He was grateful for his friends' help. Really. Even if he was, for lack of a better word astonished that Kanda, the man who so blatantly seemed to hate him was the one to suggest the idea and the first to act upon it.

For the umpteenth time, he asked a passing student if he had seen a flying golden ball of about a fist's size.  
>He braced himself for one of three usual answers:<p>

a) "Are you on drugs?"  
>b) "Are you insane?"<br>c) (And only the nicest actually said that) "No, sorry"

This time though, the answer was unexpectedly different.

"Uuuh… I think it sort of... flew out of the window? So I'm not the only one who saw it? I thought I was still drunk from last night" the student laughed sheepishly. "What's that thing any-eh?"

Allen § Co were gone before he could finish his sentence.

Allen was running in front, Kanda beside him, Lenalee and Lavi close in tow.

If only they could still find Tim in the rear of the building.

They were nearing the door when Allen very conveniently bumped into a lab coat-clad chest.

Everyone stopped, as a hand caught Allen by the scuff of his neck.

The person Allen bumped into was none other than Reever Wenham, their physics teacher, and on a side note, the Headmaster's "baby-sitter".

"Allen Walker," he started, his voice tired, "is this… thing yours?" he gestured at the golden winged ball held in his other hand.

"Timcampy!" three voices chorused. The last voice just grunted "tch, is this the retarded snitch?". One guess on whose voice it was.

As soon as he heard his owner's voice, Tim promptly bit Reever's hand and flew in Allen's face.

Reever sighted as he nursed his injured hand and passed it through his dirty-blonde hair.

"I'll take that as a yes," he sighted again "come with me to the Headmaster's office, will ya? ... The whole lot of you" he added, gesturing towards Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda.

Allen, still in Reever's grasp, was half dragged towards the Headmaster's office. His three friends just shrugged and followed him. After all, they thought, what's the worse that could happen?  
>By now, people should know that such a thought is basically begging for trouble. Well, trouble for Allen Walker, at the very least.<p>

The Headmaster's office was, for lack of a better word, a dump. Actually, the mess inside was so surreal Allen's brain refused to believe it.  
>"Look again!" His brain said "there's NO WAY it's real!"<br>"We're looking!" His eyes retorted "it IS real!"  
>The floor was carpeted with paperwork instead of fabric. Freed of Reever's grasp, Allen had no idea what he should step on.<br>He could've kept hesitating for ever hadn't a harsh hand pushed him forward.  
>"What the hell are you waiting for, Moyashi," Kanda hissed "we're here because of you, so move it. I can't stand being here."<p>

"Shut it, BaKanda!" Allen retorted "I don't even know where the Headmaster is, and where should I step?!"

Reever sighted. It was a bad idea to get these two together... He honestly doubted that the Headmaster and that stupid redhead Marshall of his knew what they were doing. Absentmindedly, he wondered if they really would survive long enough for the Vatican's plan to give any results, and if not, which of them would kill the other first...  
>He glanced at Allen and Kanda's bickering -which had long since diverted from its original subject into something about... hair?- out of the corner of his eye.<br>It looked like Kanda would have the upper hand, but Allen wasn't bad either.

"I'd better stop them before they do something drastic..." He thought.

But Lavi and Lenalee beat him to it.

Sick of watching their two friends fighting -and a wee bit scared of what might happen if the situation got out of hand- Lavi and Lenalee both grabbed te one they could handle and tried to smother the tension.

"Kanda, shouldn't you go greet my brother first?" Lenalee said with a tense smile "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you again."

"Allen-chan, the Headmaster is behind that huge pile of paperwork" Lavi explained "and you have to walk on the papers on which people already walked. See, the blackened ones." Allen scrutinised the floor and realised that Lavi was right. Some papers had a makeshift path drawn on them by the number of feet which stamped upon them.  
>"Oh," Allen said, a little surprised "well, it does make sense." He smiled sheepishly.<br>Lavi smiled back.  
>"Okay then!" The redhead exclaimed "let's go check if Lenalee's bro is still alive~!"<p>

The small group, Reever included, crowded around the mountain of papers, to discover a human-like corpse, clad in a lab coat, its face hidden by its dark bangs, from which a pair of glasses pocked out.  
>On the top of the corpse's head was a white beret, its cutestylish touch strangely out of place on something that looked way into the Other Side already.

Reever let out an exasperated sight.  
>"Lenalee, please stay close;" he requested "all of you guys, stand back."<p>

Everyone did as they were told, although Allen was more than puzzled. What was going to happen now?

Reever leaned beside the unmoving corpse, and slowly whispered in its ear:  
>"Chief, Lenalee is getting married."<p>

A moment of silence.  
>Then the corpse twitched.<br>Once.  
>Twice.<br>Then something white and purple flew crying:  
>"LENALEEEEEEE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEE?! I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL ANY MAN WHO GETS CLOSE TOO MY SWEET LENALEE!"<br>The white flying person(?) spotted Lavi, Kanda and Allen, who were hiding at the far end of the room, trembling, from fear in Allen and Lavi's case -and who could blame them?- and sheer anger in Kanda's case.  
>"I WILL KILL YOOUUU!"<br>It charged towards the three boys-  
>And was stopped by a harsh kick to the face.<br>Kick delivered by Lenalee's pretty booted leg.

In Allen's mind, this place just went from weird to freaky. He let out a mental sight "well, I wasn't expecting any less from Master's acolytes" he thought.

The thing Lenalee had shot down turned out to be a man. Short hair, sharp glasses, a small beret and a lab coat. He could be quite respectable... If only he wasn't clinging to Lenalee while crying.

"Lenaleeeeee!" The man wailed "why did you do this to meeeeeee"  
>Lenalee punched the man with an annoyed face.<br>So much for her sweetness and femininity.  
>"Brother, I am not getting married" she threw out her hands in exasperation "Mr Reever said that to wake you up because you were slacking off AGAIN! And the boys you almost attacked are Lavi, Bookman's grandson, who you've known for AGES, Kanda, who just came back to Dark Order after five years -which means you should be welcoming him instead of attacking him!- and Allen, whom you haven't even seen before! He's a new student for God's sake!"<p>

The man suddenly became totally composed. He now looked like the kind and sweet Headmaster you'd come to if you had any kind of trouble.

But somehow, that image was already destroyed in Allen's mind.

Lenalee sighted.  
>"Allen, this is my brother, Komui Lee. Sorry you had to witness this on your first day. As I already told you, he's quite... Protective of me. And has a bad habit of slacking off."<p>

Komui hugged his little sister, wailing:  
>"But if I don't protect my pretty Lenalee from evil men, who will?!"<p>

This little display of affection earned him yet another punch.  
>"I'm seventeen years old, Nii-san. I can take care of myself. Now PLEASE do your job and take care of Allen."<p>

Yet again, Komui took up his "100% dignified" facade.  
>"Right. Allen Walker. Pleased to meet you by the way" Komui smiled kindly "I was quite surprised when Marian payed for your tuition, you know?" He laughed "I never though that bastard would actually care about anyone!"<p>

"I'm as surprised as you are, Mr Lee" Allen laughed back. Then registered the second part of Komui's sentence. "Wait, you know Master?"

"Of course I do!" Komui answered happily "We're old friends. Well, I don't think "friends" can actually sum it up, but we've been working together for a long time. I'll admit that he's an asshole, but he does an amazing job when he feels like it."

Allen's brain had stopped processing thoughts some time after Komui told him his Master had a [job]. An [actual, paying, JOB].

Then -when his brain started working again- he asked:  
>"... Somehow, the idea of Master working on something that does not imply pricey alcohol and women does not sit well with me. May I please inquire just on [what] he's working?"<p>

Komui laughed again, and his laugh was more of a guffaw.  
>"Oh my dear boy, you're a breeze! Finally someone who understands how much of an ass Cross is!" He put an arm around Allen's shoulders "Ah, it'll be good having you around, Allen! But, to be fair, Cross may be a bastard, a womanizer, and a worthless drunkard, but he's a genius technician. And I'm an engineer. I think he and I are a good enough working pair." The Headmaster smiled. His smile was kind and doting, just like the smile a parent would give their child.<br>"I'm sorry it's a little late Allen, but welcome to Dark Order High. I really will be delighted to have you here."

Allen was stunned.  
>He wasn't used to such nice treatment. He wasn't used to smiles, or hugs, or jokes. He was used to harsh work, yes. He was used to cruel beatings and mocking stares; he was used to spiteful insults and poisonous words; but not to [this].<p>

He turned around and looked back at Reever, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda. The first three were smiling, such honest, welcoming smiles it was impossible not to smile back, and the last, well, he didn't look TOO pissed at least.

And that's when Lenalee said kindly: "Brother is right, Allen. I'm sure we'll be happier with you here."

Allen knew he had to answer; say something, anything at all, but he couldn't.

He was too busy wondering where the warmth in his chest came from.

Afterwards, things were a bit messy.  
>Reever was trying to get Kanda to register for a few "self-management" classes, Lavi was laughing his ass off at the very idea, Lenalee was trying to save Lavi from Kanda's wrath, and Komui was looking for the different forms Allen had to fill out.<p>

Things were being thrown, forms were torn, laugher and screams echoed, and Allen was mainly clueless.

It was in the midst of this "WW II reproduction" that the Headmaster swiftly handed Allen a package.

"Here's your new uniform, along with a map of the school, and a key to your room" he said with a smile.

Allen somehow noted that Komui seemed to never stop smiling.

It made him even more embarrassed at the request he was about to utter.  
>But he really didn't have a choice.<p>

He tried to made it seem as innocent as possible.  
>"Oh," he said lightly "is the uniform long-sleeved? I really hate the cold." He let out a breezy laugh, and watched out, from the corner of his eye, if any of his friends were paying attention.<br>Thankfully, they weren't.

Or so it seemed to Allen.

When his attention went back to Komui, he noticed that the smile had changed: That smile was a sad one. It was the sort of smile that seemed to say "you don't have to push yourself so hard."

Komui ruffled Allen's hair slightly.  
>"It's alright, Allen" he whispered "I know. Cross told me some. You don't have to try so hard."<p>

Ah.  
>So Allen was right about that smile.<br>Fleetingly, he wondered just [how much] the Headmaster knew.

Komui swiftly reverted to his cheerful nature.  
>"You have a long sleeved uniform, and another one made of lighter material for the summer." He said with a TV advertisement tone "please note the smoothness of the fabric and the specially made cut! It even has a fresh pair of gloves!"<p>

Allen just burst out laughing.  
>Maybe Komui knowing wasn't such a bad thing.<p>

His good mood was sadly ruined with a single sentence:  
>"Oi, fucking Moyashi. If you want to be friends with the psychotic Headmaster, do it later. Now move your ass, Lenalee won't let me leave without you."<p>

No one had to guess who said that, right?

Allen's retort was instantaneous:  
>"This is none of your fucking business, BaKanda. If your girly hormones are making you so impatient, then learn how to deal with them."<p>

Reever, deeming that after such an insult to Kanda's manly pride, the fight was bound to get bloody, pushed the antagonists and their two friends outside and left them to quarrel there.

After all, cleaning blood from the corridors' tiles was easier than cleaning it from the office's rug.

He sighted as he looked at the human being who was supposed -supposed!- to be his boss, and was therefore supposed -once again, SUPPOSED!- to make the wisest choices.

"Komui, are you SURE that you know what you're doing?"

For a fleeting second, Komui's face lost all cheerfulness; every smile, every laugh, seemed as if it had never existed, as he uttered under his breath:  
>"I don't have a choice, Reever."<p>

But that fleeting second was over, and he looked up with an overwhelming smile as he gestured for Reever to bolt the door.

"BOLT it?!"

"Yes Reever, I'm quite sure that Kanda will be storming in a second, and with mugen in hand. So please do bolt it. Unless you fancy being chopped to pieces?"  
>The headmaster guffawed, and somehow, he sounded like those demented scientists Reever saw in horror movies.<p>

Reever thought he'd better get a new job.

Meanwhile, Allen, Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee were bidding each other goodnight. (Well, all minus Kanda, who only stayed for the sake of appearances.)

When they stopped laughing, each went to their respective rooms.

Incidentally, Allen and Kanda were going the same way.

"Why are you following me, Moyashi?" Kanda snapped.

"I'm not following you, jerk. I'm going to my room! Who'd want to stay with you anyway?"

Kanda, for a second, froze.

"No way... There's only one room in this corrid-"

And suddenly he realized.

It was a good thing Komui had bolted his door.

When Kanda came back to the room, Allen had already changed, and was unpacking the rest of his belongings.

He was turning his back to Kanda, so that when he finally spoke, his flushing face was out of the other's side.

"Um... I never had the chance to tell you... Thanks. For looking for Tim. I was really out of my mind, so, thank you Kanda."

"Che. I don't need your thanks, bean sprout. I would've felt bad leaving a damsel in distress. I'm going to take a shower."

He closed the bathroom's door, leaving Allen's screams and curses on the threshold.

As the hot water streamed on Kanda's midnight blue hair, something very unusual happened.

He smiled.

A blatantly triumphant smile.

"The brat's already in my grasp. Even deceiving will be no problem. This assignment will be over soon.  
>And I'm in the middle of the Dark Order...<br>"Just wait for it, Alma. I'll avenge you. I swear."


End file.
